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I don't get all the hate on DeKalb. DeKalb covers everything from the hippest intown neighborhoods like Kirkwood, Oakhurst and East Lake, to grand old enclaves like Emory and Druid Hills, to granola-ish yuppie havens like Decatur and Avondale Estates, to up and coming cities like Chamblee, Tucker and Doraville, to elegant suburban communities such as Lakeside, Brookhaven and Dunwoody, to rock solid bastions of the upper middle class like Embry Hills, Valley Brook and North Druid Hills. And that's just scratching the surface. Areas such as Lithonia, Gresham Park, Stone Mountain, Candler McAfee and Arabia Mountain are all coming on strong.

No, DeKalb is not perfect, but it remains a core element of the ATL. To me it seems more resurgent than it's been in decades.

No one's "hating" on DeKalb County.

That said, the reality is parts of the county, mainly the southern half, has significant problems that turn potential residents off from living there.

That said, the reality is parts of the county, mainly the southern half, has significant problems that turn potential residents off from living there.

Who choose where to live based on a COUNTY? I'm pretty sure most people just look at the city - Decatur, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, and some of the best parts of Atlanta such as Lake Claire, Kirkwood, Candler Park, etc. I don't think anyone thinks of what county they are in because almost everything is handled by the city government. An invisible boundary doesn't make an area "closer" to a bad area. Parts of southern Fulton county are much closer to the "bad parts" of DeKalb (and the bad parts of Fulton) than are Brookhaven, Decatur, or CoA in DeKalb.

you must not know the history of the area.. If you owned land in Brookhaven in the eighties or nineties you were told to accept an offer or be forced off.. My family owned like one-eighth of Brookhaven before the UAE investor raid of the nineties..

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